America’s nuclear monopoly ended with the arrival of the Soviet bomb in 1949, but the United States continued to enjoy nuclear primacy for another decade. During the fifties, the Soviet Union’s capacity to retaliate was sharply limited because it lacked aerial-refueling capability that would enable its bombers to reach the US homeland from Soviet territory. The Soviet Union did not have a second-strike capability at all until 1960. Even with the assembly of a large strategic striking force, a process which consumed the better part of the fifties, the USSR could not be assured of penetrating the defenses by then erected over Canadian airspace. It was only with the advent of long-range bombers and ICBMs that the Soviets finally gained a second-strike capability. These developments in Soviet nuclear capability were clearly on the horizon by 1957, but did not actually come into play until 1960.
Limited Nuclear War
Limited Nuclear War
Limited Nuclear War
America’s nuclear monopoly ended with the arrival of the Soviet bomb in 1949, but the United States continued to enjoy nuclear primacy for another decade. During the fifties, the Soviet Union’s capacity to retaliate was sharply limited because it lacked aerial-refueling capability that would enable its bombers to reach the US homeland from Soviet territory. The Soviet Union did not have a second-strike capability at all until 1960. Even with the assembly of a large strategic striking force, a process which consumed the better part of the fifties, the USSR could not be assured of penetrating the defenses by then erected over Canadian airspace. It was only with the advent of long-range bombers and ICBMs that the Soviets finally gained a second-strike capability. These developments in Soviet nuclear capability were clearly on the horizon by 1957, but did not actually come into play until 1960.